This invention relates in general to the problem of interfacing a keyboard and an individual using a keyboard and more particularly to a facile manner of enabling an individual without great training or experience to manipulate the input elements of the keyboard in the required sequence to provide information and storage which can be used in any desired fashion.
Keyboards are used in a wide range of equipment from typewriters to word processors to calculators, from large equipment having large readily manipulable keyboards to credit card size pocket calculators having extremely small keyboard elements. Two of the types of problems posed by keyboard design relate to size and complexity. An appreciable number of keys are required on a word processing keyboard including alphabet keys, numerical keys, punctuation keys and instruction or function keys. Proper manipulation of the keyboard requires experience and skill. If the keyboard is to be finger manipulated, as is the typical typewriter, then the size of the keyboard has to be appreciable so that each key is appropriate to the size of a human fingertip. But that spreads out a keyboard considerably, requiring a great deal of motion to input data and instructions and thereby slowing down the input process.
A number of techniques have been employed to solve certain of these problems. Multi-function keys are commonly used. This reduces the number of keys appreciably but usually requires function keys and function sequencing which increases complexity and tends to introduce error.
Some of this background is outlined in a particular solution proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,202,038 issued to Stig Petersson on May 6, 1980. Petersson teaches a keyboard having, in one embodiment, eight keys each key having four potential functions. In a second embodiment he has ten keys each performing three potential functions. Each function of each key is a mathematical operation or input number. In any case, the user of the keyboard and associated calculating device actuates the key having the desired operation, function or input thereby initiating a scan sequence through the four functions. Four lights are turned on in sequence, only one light being on at a time. The state of the scan is indicated to the user by which of the four lights is lit. If, for example, the third function in the depressed key is desired, then when the third light becomes lit the user lifts his finger thereby effecting selection of that function, instruction or input. Although this is a useful system, particularly where the total number of functions are limited, to provide a small and convenient keyboard which can be rapidly manipulated, it only partially solves the problem of providing a fast acting, simple to operate, relatively small size keyboard having a substantial number of input items.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,005,388 issued to Richard E. Morley and George G. Schwenk on Jan. 25, 1977 teaches an interactive computer terminal which can be hand-held and provides a twenty-four keyboard with multiple function keys so that a 75-character keyboard is provided. Although this terminal or keyboard provides solutions to certain problems relating to trade-off between size, complexity and speed it does require two hand operation and also requires skill and familarity with the keyboard involved.
It is a major purpose of this invention to provide a further improved information processor that provides an optimum trade-off of keyboard comprehensiveness, simplicity, speed of usage, all in the context of a hand held terminal.